In simple and unassuming black shirt and jeans, Bamboo Mañalac and his touring band electrified Halls 5F-G of the HK Convention and Exhibition Centre with sheer undeniable musical talent. The expo halls were packed on June 4, Sunday, with adoring Filipino fans who expected nothing less than a rocking afternoon, and they were not disappointed.The solid two-hour concert – dubbed as “Noypi” - opened with a few tracks from his 2015 album “Bless This Mess”, which included the singles “Firepower”, “Nothing Like You”, and “Call”.
The string of energetic, albeit lesser-known songs eased the crowd into a set of indelible OPM classics such as “Himala”, “214”, and “Awit ng Kabataan”, originally performed by Bamboo as the original frontman of pop-rock legends Rivermaya.
Also featured in his performance was a rock version of the early 90s hip-hop hit “Ice, Ice, Baby” by Vanilla Ice. Later in the afternoon, he also churned out a cover of Kendrick Lemar’s modern hit entitled “I”, as well as the Michael Jackson classic “Man in the Mirror”.
But the show’s highlights were Bamboo’s contemporary anthems “Noypi” and “Hallelujah”, with the highly energetic singer running around the concert venue to get closer to his fans.
The show poignantly closed with “Flowers”, a relatively obscure song penned by Rico Blanco for the 1996 album “Trip”.
Bamboo Mañalac first rose to fame in 1994 with the debut of Rivermaya, and was caught in a heated hit-charts rivalry with fellow OPM legends The Eraserheads. He left the Philippine music scene to live in the United States in 1999, and returned in 2004 with the album “As The Music Plays”.
Aside from his solo music career, he is also popularly known as one of the judges of The Voice Philippines in ABS-CBN.
Bamboo’s Noypi Concert was organized and produced by Barkadahan sa Smartone.
